25-year high in Australian workers holding multiple jobs

The employment landscape is ever changing, with recent developments showing that many major industries are experiencing 25-year highs in shift workers holding multiple jobs.

A recent report from Deputy discovered that in 2023, all major working industries experienced unprecedented rises in the number of shift workers who were working multiple jobs. This exceeded numbers seen over the last 25 years.

These statistics are damning in comparison to other nations. The number is higher than figures seen in both the US (5.2 per cent) and the UK (4.9 per cent) and could be the byproduct of cost-of-living and housing pressures.

This trend of working multiple jobs impacts a number of industries as the hospitality industry has 8 per cent of workers holding multiple jobs, followed by 7 per cent in healthcare and 6 per cent in retail. Industries like services, an industry that predominantly prefers to hold onto one job, has had decade highs in multiple job holders at 5 per cent.

Dr Shashi Karunanethy, chief economist at Geografia, collaborated with Deputy on the report and shared some interesting insight into the data.

“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of shift workers holding multiple jobs, a phenomenon we refer to as poly-employment, in response to the cost-of-living crisis,” said Dr Karunanethy.

“Females make up 58 per cent of workers working multiple jobs, and the majority of these female workers are young. Having entered the workforce during the pandemic, a period of instability and widespread layoffs, this generation is using poly-employment not only as a means to navigate rising costs but also in the search for sustainable employment, reliable shifts, and financial stability.”

An interesting detail to this data is the generational aspect, with the overwhelming majority of multiple job holders being from Gen Z (65 per cent) followed by Millennials (27 per cent).

In 2023, hospitality and retail businesses saw a change in generational tides as these industries are usually overrun with Millennials, now Gen Z takes up the largest share of employment throughout these industries.

Although this isn’t a shocking revelation, Dr Karunanethy explained that this generational shift is occurring at a much faster rate than anticipated.

“While it is natural that we would see an increase in Gen Z shift workers, this change is taking place much faster than anticipated, about three years ahead of the projected timeline, and far ahead of their counterparts in other markets,” said Dr Karunanethy.

“With Gen Z taking up the majority of shift work hours, they have the ability to shape workplaces, and business leaders will have to adapt to their specific needs to attract and retain talent amid tight labour conditions,” he added.

These shifts could implore an adaption from employers to add some form of support to the large amounts of the staff that are working multiple jobs in hopes of retaining the talent in scarce labour conditions. This multiple job trend is yet another chapter added to the cost-of-living crisis and its damaging effect on the working class.